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HAGUE COURT RULING ON KOSOVO THROUGH PERSPECTIVE OF KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT
Arshaluys Mghdesyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
July 24, 2010
The political week in Armenia started with congresses of the Armenian
National Movement and Armenakan Ramkavar-Azatakan party. On July 17,
Yerevan hosted the 16th congress of the Armenian National Movement. In
his remarks, Armenia's first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan said that
Armenia's economic development is impossible without resolution of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict and normalization of relations with Turkey.
Ter-Petrosyan also voiced confidence that the key to Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation is in Russia's hands.
On July 20, former RA parliamentary speaker Karapet Rubinyan
left the Armenian National Movement (ANM), explaining reasons
behind his resignation in a letter to the newly-elected ANM
administration. Some of the reasons cited were "forged elections into
movement administration, lack of future vision and defeatist moods in
a struggle against current authorities, expressed by movement leader
at recent session." Referring to reasons of Rubinyan's withdrawal
from the party, Chairman of the newly elected board of the Armenian
National Movement (ANM) Aram Manukyan said that Rubinyan's accusations
concerning falsification of the ANM board election during the party's
16th congress are baseless. "The system of our party's board election
is so transparent that falsifications are impossible," Manukyan told
a press conference on July 21.
On July 17, Yerevan hosted the second congress of Armenakan-Ramkavar
Azatakan party with participation of 100 delegates. Leader of the
party Hakob Avetikyan submitted a report on the activity of the
party's republican board during a year. Referring to the economic
and political situation in Armenia, Hakob Avetikyan noted that
Armenakan-Ramkavar Azatakan party can be a balancing force among
opposition and pro-governmental blocs of Armenia.
On July 17, the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair
countries released a statement. Below are comments of Armenian
politicians on it. Secretary of the Republican Party of Armenia
parliamentary group Eduard Sharmazanov said that the statement is an
obvious case when the Azerbaijani leadership's bellicose statements
are not left without response. "This proves that the Azerbaijani
leadership's bellicose statements intended for the internal use lead
the country into a deadlock. Meanwhile, a "yellow card" was given to
Azerbaijan in Almaty on July 17," concluded Sharmazanov.
"The expectations for the meeting were quite different. Baku
expected "a schedule of withdrawal of Armenian troops from Karabakh"
to be signed, political analyst Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter on July 18. According to him, Yerevan
expected a regular fruitless meeting. Both sides were wrong, said
Melik-Shahnazaryan.
Deputy Director of Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan said that the
ministerial meeting in Almaty has registered a number of important
factors in the Karabakh process. "The OSCE Minsk Group underscored
that the talks should continue on the basis of the current status
quo, with the principles of Helsinki Final Act being equal. The
statement disillusioned the Azerbaijani leadership regarding any
kind of unilateral concessions by Armenia," Sergey Minasyan told
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "Moreover, Azerbaijan was reminded of
inadmissibility of blackmail and resumption of hostilities," he said.
On July 19, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said that
the five-sided meeting between the heads of delegations of the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-chair counties and Armenian and Azerbaijan Foreign
Ministers in Almaty was useful, although Baku's destructive behavior
hampered signature of a five-sided statement. Nalbandian also attached
importance to the fact that selective approach to the principles
fixed in the statements is inadmissible.
On July 19, Board chairman of the Center on Globalization and Regional
Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan said that it's obvious that the interest
towards the Nagorno Karabakh conflict has grown, what can be proved by
recent statements issued by Presidents and Foreign Ministers of the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries. "The latest statement in Almaty
reads that the sides should resolve the conflict through peaceful
means and none of the co-chair countries will speed up the process
artificially," said Grigoryan.
The same day, member of Heritage parliamentary group Armen Martirosyan
said that the statement by the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chair countries in Almaty was addressed not only to
Azerbaijan, but also to Armenia, as mediators always try to balance the
situation. Being a regular one, the statement cannot have any impact on
the conflict resolution, Martirosyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
Meanwhile, member of Prosperous Armenia parliamentary group Naira
Zohrabyan said that the aforementioned statement contains a certain
message for Azerbaijan, suggesting that some offers should not be
withdrawn from the discussed document's text to be presented as main
issues of the negotiation process. "It is high time that the statements
of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen have certain addressees - so that
speaking about the incident near Chaylu settlement, they mention the
side responsible for it," Zohrabyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
On July 20, Member of Prosperous Armenia parliamentary group Vardan
Bostanjyan told a press conference that in reality Azerbaijan is a
project, and not a state created in 1918. Answering a question on
possibility of hostilities resumption by Azerbaijan, he said that
Azerbaijan will not unleash a war against NKR. "However, if it happens,
the Armenian troops will reach the Caspian Sea, what we wanted to do
in the mean time, but were not allowed," said Bostanjyan.
Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit,
Budgetary and Economic Affairs, member of the ruling Republican Party
of Armenia Gagik Minasyan said that the meeting on the sidelines of an
informal meeting of OSCE Foreign Ministers in Almaty can be considered
summarization of the results of an important period, which lasted for
1-2 years. "Time is on Armenia's side; moreover, the international
community gradually comes to conclusions, which proceed from norms of
the international law. Thus, I attach importance to statements made
by Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries,"
noted Minasyan.
Armenia is ready to use St. Petersburg suggestions as basis for
negotiations; it's now Azerbaijan's turn to decide on its position,
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated. As Armenian leader pointed
out at the July 21 meeting with Armenian Diaspora youth, members of
Miasin movement and Return Home program, "Suggestions were put forward
at St. Petersburg meeting, with Armenia and Azerbaijan expected to
express their positions. Negotiations will be resumed upon Azerbaijan's
accepting OSCE MG's suggestions."
Referring to the Armenian-Turkish normalization, Sargsyan said that
Armenia demonstrated political will towards normalization of ties with
Turkey and expects Turkey to undertake a return step. "The whole world
urges Turkey to demonstrate political will in ratifying Protocols,
however Ankara turns a deaf ear, calling on Armenia to show political
will," Serzh Sargsyan noted during the meeting. "Despite Turkish
authorities' statements, Armenia is ready to accept any expression
of friendship," the Armenian leader concluded.
On July 21, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute,
historian Hayk Demoyan said that resumption of the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols ratification is impossible in the near future. "Currently it
is preferential for Turkey not to open the border with Armenia against
the background of aggravated Kurdish problem," Demoyan told a press
conference in Yerevan. "Currently, I do not see any prerequisites
for the border opening," concluded Demoyan.
The ruling of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo has become
another heatedly debated topic in Armenia. On July 22, Secretary of
Republican Party of Armenia parliamentary group Eduard Sharmazanov
said that the ruling of the International Court of Justice on
lawfulness of Kosovo's secession from Serbia will have a positive
impact on international recognition of NKR's independence. The ruling
indicates that the people's right to self-determination gradually
prevails over the principle of territorial integrity, Sharmazanov
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
Head of Heritage parliamentary group Stepan Safaryan said that the
ruling of the International Court of Justice may have a positive
impact on recognition of NKR's independence. Nobody will be able
to explain why such decision is applicable to Kosovo, but not to
Karabakh, Safaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. According to him,
Armenia should apply to the International Court of Justice to solve
the NKR conflict.
On July 23, Head of the Modus Vivendi Centre Ara Papian said that it
was absolutely within the law for the highest tribunal of the United
Nations - the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - to conclude that
"the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo does not violate
international law. It was within the law first of all because the right
to direct one's own political affairs, through the establishment of
self-determination, is included in the UN Charter [Article 1(2)] as one
of the main goals of the organization, Papian told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. According to him, international law does not consist of any
criterion by which the right to independence is reserved for, say,
Serbs, Georgians or Caucasian Tatars, but that very right is denied
to Albanians, Megrelians or the Talysh. "International law is not up
for auction in the 21st century. International law is not for sale
as an oil derrick," concluded Papian.
On July 23, ARFD parliamentary group leader Vahan Hovhannesyan told
a press conference in Yerevan that he welcomes the resolution of
International Court of Justice on Kosovo's independence, believing
it to be a new tool in Armenia's struggle for recognition of NKR
independence. Charactering world court resolution as a just verdict,
the ARFD parliamentary group leader said: "Formation of a new state
through secession from another does not run counter to international
law."
The ruling of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo independence
is unprecedented. For the first time, the International court
simultaneously covered two principles: territorial integrity and
people's right to self-determination, ruling that a declaration of
independence does not violate any UN resolution or international law,
stated Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan. "People's
right to self-determination is one of UN goals, with territorial
integrity being a principle used to attain the goal. With a right to
self-determination, territorial integrity is of secondary importance,
which was suggested by the Hague court ruling," Shavarsh Kocharyan
specified.
From: A. Papazian
Arshaluys Mghdesyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
July 24, 2010
The political week in Armenia started with congresses of the Armenian
National Movement and Armenakan Ramkavar-Azatakan party. On July 17,
Yerevan hosted the 16th congress of the Armenian National Movement. In
his remarks, Armenia's first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan said that
Armenia's economic development is impossible without resolution of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict and normalization of relations with Turkey.
Ter-Petrosyan also voiced confidence that the key to Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation is in Russia's hands.
On July 20, former RA parliamentary speaker Karapet Rubinyan
left the Armenian National Movement (ANM), explaining reasons
behind his resignation in a letter to the newly-elected ANM
administration. Some of the reasons cited were "forged elections into
movement administration, lack of future vision and defeatist moods in
a struggle against current authorities, expressed by movement leader
at recent session." Referring to reasons of Rubinyan's withdrawal
from the party, Chairman of the newly elected board of the Armenian
National Movement (ANM) Aram Manukyan said that Rubinyan's accusations
concerning falsification of the ANM board election during the party's
16th congress are baseless. "The system of our party's board election
is so transparent that falsifications are impossible," Manukyan told
a press conference on July 21.
On July 17, Yerevan hosted the second congress of Armenakan-Ramkavar
Azatakan party with participation of 100 delegates. Leader of the
party Hakob Avetikyan submitted a report on the activity of the
party's republican board during a year. Referring to the economic
and political situation in Armenia, Hakob Avetikyan noted that
Armenakan-Ramkavar Azatakan party can be a balancing force among
opposition and pro-governmental blocs of Armenia.
On July 17, the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair
countries released a statement. Below are comments of Armenian
politicians on it. Secretary of the Republican Party of Armenia
parliamentary group Eduard Sharmazanov said that the statement is an
obvious case when the Azerbaijani leadership's bellicose statements
are not left without response. "This proves that the Azerbaijani
leadership's bellicose statements intended for the internal use lead
the country into a deadlock. Meanwhile, a "yellow card" was given to
Azerbaijan in Almaty on July 17," concluded Sharmazanov.
"The expectations for the meeting were quite different. Baku
expected "a schedule of withdrawal of Armenian troops from Karabakh"
to be signed, political analyst Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter on July 18. According to him, Yerevan
expected a regular fruitless meeting. Both sides were wrong, said
Melik-Shahnazaryan.
Deputy Director of Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan said that the
ministerial meeting in Almaty has registered a number of important
factors in the Karabakh process. "The OSCE Minsk Group underscored
that the talks should continue on the basis of the current status
quo, with the principles of Helsinki Final Act being equal. The
statement disillusioned the Azerbaijani leadership regarding any
kind of unilateral concessions by Armenia," Sergey Minasyan told
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "Moreover, Azerbaijan was reminded of
inadmissibility of blackmail and resumption of hostilities," he said.
On July 19, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said that
the five-sided meeting between the heads of delegations of the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-chair counties and Armenian and Azerbaijan Foreign
Ministers in Almaty was useful, although Baku's destructive behavior
hampered signature of a five-sided statement. Nalbandian also attached
importance to the fact that selective approach to the principles
fixed in the statements is inadmissible.
On July 19, Board chairman of the Center on Globalization and Regional
Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan said that it's obvious that the interest
towards the Nagorno Karabakh conflict has grown, what can be proved by
recent statements issued by Presidents and Foreign Ministers of the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries. "The latest statement in Almaty
reads that the sides should resolve the conflict through peaceful
means and none of the co-chair countries will speed up the process
artificially," said Grigoryan.
The same day, member of Heritage parliamentary group Armen Martirosyan
said that the statement by the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chair countries in Almaty was addressed not only to
Azerbaijan, but also to Armenia, as mediators always try to balance the
situation. Being a regular one, the statement cannot have any impact on
the conflict resolution, Martirosyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
Meanwhile, member of Prosperous Armenia parliamentary group Naira
Zohrabyan said that the aforementioned statement contains a certain
message for Azerbaijan, suggesting that some offers should not be
withdrawn from the discussed document's text to be presented as main
issues of the negotiation process. "It is high time that the statements
of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen have certain addressees - so that
speaking about the incident near Chaylu settlement, they mention the
side responsible for it," Zohrabyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
On July 20, Member of Prosperous Armenia parliamentary group Vardan
Bostanjyan told a press conference that in reality Azerbaijan is a
project, and not a state created in 1918. Answering a question on
possibility of hostilities resumption by Azerbaijan, he said that
Azerbaijan will not unleash a war against NKR. "However, if it happens,
the Armenian troops will reach the Caspian Sea, what we wanted to do
in the mean time, but were not allowed," said Bostanjyan.
Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Financial-Credit,
Budgetary and Economic Affairs, member of the ruling Republican Party
of Armenia Gagik Minasyan said that the meeting on the sidelines of an
informal meeting of OSCE Foreign Ministers in Almaty can be considered
summarization of the results of an important period, which lasted for
1-2 years. "Time is on Armenia's side; moreover, the international
community gradually comes to conclusions, which proceed from norms of
the international law. Thus, I attach importance to statements made
by Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries,"
noted Minasyan.
Armenia is ready to use St. Petersburg suggestions as basis for
negotiations; it's now Azerbaijan's turn to decide on its position,
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated. As Armenian leader pointed
out at the July 21 meeting with Armenian Diaspora youth, members of
Miasin movement and Return Home program, "Suggestions were put forward
at St. Petersburg meeting, with Armenia and Azerbaijan expected to
express their positions. Negotiations will be resumed upon Azerbaijan's
accepting OSCE MG's suggestions."
Referring to the Armenian-Turkish normalization, Sargsyan said that
Armenia demonstrated political will towards normalization of ties with
Turkey and expects Turkey to undertake a return step. "The whole world
urges Turkey to demonstrate political will in ratifying Protocols,
however Ankara turns a deaf ear, calling on Armenia to show political
will," Serzh Sargsyan noted during the meeting. "Despite Turkish
authorities' statements, Armenia is ready to accept any expression
of friendship," the Armenian leader concluded.
On July 21, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute,
historian Hayk Demoyan said that resumption of the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols ratification is impossible in the near future. "Currently it
is preferential for Turkey not to open the border with Armenia against
the background of aggravated Kurdish problem," Demoyan told a press
conference in Yerevan. "Currently, I do not see any prerequisites
for the border opening," concluded Demoyan.
The ruling of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo has become
another heatedly debated topic in Armenia. On July 22, Secretary of
Republican Party of Armenia parliamentary group Eduard Sharmazanov
said that the ruling of the International Court of Justice on
lawfulness of Kosovo's secession from Serbia will have a positive
impact on international recognition of NKR's independence. The ruling
indicates that the people's right to self-determination gradually
prevails over the principle of territorial integrity, Sharmazanov
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
Head of Heritage parliamentary group Stepan Safaryan said that the
ruling of the International Court of Justice may have a positive
impact on recognition of NKR's independence. Nobody will be able
to explain why such decision is applicable to Kosovo, but not to
Karabakh, Safaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. According to him,
Armenia should apply to the International Court of Justice to solve
the NKR conflict.
On July 23, Head of the Modus Vivendi Centre Ara Papian said that it
was absolutely within the law for the highest tribunal of the United
Nations - the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - to conclude that
"the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo does not violate
international law. It was within the law first of all because the right
to direct one's own political affairs, through the establishment of
self-determination, is included in the UN Charter [Article 1(2)] as one
of the main goals of the organization, Papian told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. According to him, international law does not consist of any
criterion by which the right to independence is reserved for, say,
Serbs, Georgians or Caucasian Tatars, but that very right is denied
to Albanians, Megrelians or the Talysh. "International law is not up
for auction in the 21st century. International law is not for sale
as an oil derrick," concluded Papian.
On July 23, ARFD parliamentary group leader Vahan Hovhannesyan told
a press conference in Yerevan that he welcomes the resolution of
International Court of Justice on Kosovo's independence, believing
it to be a new tool in Armenia's struggle for recognition of NKR
independence. Charactering world court resolution as a just verdict,
the ARFD parliamentary group leader said: "Formation of a new state
through secession from another does not run counter to international
law."
The ruling of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo independence
is unprecedented. For the first time, the International court
simultaneously covered two principles: territorial integrity and
people's right to self-determination, ruling that a declaration of
independence does not violate any UN resolution or international law,
stated Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan. "People's
right to self-determination is one of UN goals, with territorial
integrity being a principle used to attain the goal. With a right to
self-determination, territorial integrity is of secondary importance,
which was suggested by the Hague court ruling," Shavarsh Kocharyan
specified.
From: A. Papazian